Benefit of Icosapent Ethyl Across Types and Sizes of Myocardial Infarction in REDUCE-IT

We studied the efficacy and safety of icosapent ethyl (IPE) 4g daily in reducing the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) across different MI subtypes and sizes, among REDUCE-IT high-risk patients with hypertriglyceridemia.

REDUCE-IT was a phase 3b, double-blind multicenter trial. Patients with established CVD or diabetes who were treated with statins and had moderate hypertriglyceridemia were randomized to receive IPE 4g daily or placebo. The current analysis focused on MI subtypes (fatal MI, nonfatal MI, ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI), non-STEMI (NSTEMI)), as well as MI size (measured by multiples of troponin upper limit of normal) and MI-related complications. Safety outcomes included treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs), bleeding, atrial fibrillation, and flutter.

At 5.7 years follow-up, MI incidence was lower with IPE compared with placebo (8.6% vs 12.0%), hazard ratio (HR) 0.69 (95% CI 0.58-0.81, P<0.0001). STEMI incidence was lower with IPE (2.7% vs 3.9%, HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.81, P=0.0008), as was NSTEMI incidence (5.9% vs 7.8%, HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.60-0.89, P=0.001). Fatal and nonfatal MIs were reduced with IPE (HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.30-1.01, P=0.05 and HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.59-0.82, P<0.0001, respectively). Stratification by size revealed IPE reduced most MIs, but the protective effect was higher for larger MIs (P<0.0001). Further analyses showed benefits in MI-related outcomes, including reductions in spontaneous MI and MI-related complications. Among patients who developed MI, safety outcomes showed no significant increase in serious bleeding, atrial fibrillation or flutter, or adverse events with IPE.

IPE significantly reduced MI across most subtypes and sizes in statin-treated patients with elevated triglycerides at increased cardiovascular risk.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01492361.